A U.S. patent gives you, the inventor, the right to “exclude others from making, using, offering for sale, or selling” an invention or “importing” it into the U.S...What is granted is not the right to make, use, offer for sale, sell or import the invention, but the right to stop others from doing so. If someone infringes on your patent, you may initiate legal action. U.S. patents are effective only within the U.S. and its territories and possessions.
[Quoted from USPTO Patent Essentials]
A patent is granted by a country's intellectual property office.
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is located in Alexandria, Virginia. In the old days you would have had to visit them in person to file or research a patent, but now you can do most everything online via www.uspto.gov
You can apply for a U.S. patent online: uspto.gov/patents/apply
But you'll probably want more guidance than that! A good place to get started is with the New York Public Library's wonderfully comprehensive guide to patents: libguides.nypl.org/patents
Are you more of an in-person person? The Thomas Yoseloff Business Center, located on the 5th Floor of the New York Public Library at 455 5th Avenue, is a designated Patent and Trademark Resource Center.
